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| Naughty schoolgirl |
A TV advert showing a teenager posing provocatively in skimpy school uniform has prompted a barrage of complaints from parents.
Advertising watchdogs said the 30-second commercial for Kingsmill fruit and fibre bread had triggered claims that it ‘sexualises children’.
The advert shows a schoolgirl in the kitchen at breakfast. Her younger brother then relays a warning from their father: ‘If you think you’re going to school in that skirt, you can think again.’
The girl, played by actress Tara Berwin, responds by defiantly hitching up her mid-thigh length skirt to strike a provocative pose.
One outraged viewer wrote on a web forum: ‘Perhaps it’s because paedophilia is very much in the public consciousness at the moment but shouldn’t this be illegal? Nearly seeing up the skirt of a minor?’
The advert featuring 18-year-old Ms Berwin and nine-year-old Lewis Hardaker is the latest in a £4 million campaign to promote Kingsmill bread.
The Advertising Standards Authority will this week examine complaints that it is ‘offensive and irresponsible’ before launching any investigation. The ASA has recorded 19 complaints about the commercial since its launch a week ago.
Web forums were deluged with critical comments. One parent wrote on Mumsnet: ‘I really think it exploits teenage girls. At the end there is a girl dressed in a very short skirt, over-the-knee stockings and it’s basically her school uniform.
‘I just don’t see how it’s appropriate or what it has to do with a Kingsmill loaf. It’s blatantly using sex to sell an everyday product.’ Another parent noted: ‘I think it’s grim, to be honest. The same joke could’ve been made by dressing the girl in any number of other unsuitable-for-school outfits.
‘The camera lingers on her giving a twirl, and the over-the-knee socks make her look like she’s in “naughty schoolgirl” fancy dress. Yuk.’